When listening to professor Minh talk about the future of sustainability in Vietnam he emphasized the point of making such sustainability profitable for businesses. This idea really resonated with me, as it is obvious we cannot hold corporations accountable to act in the best interest of the people or the environment when their number one goal is to raise profit margins and increase revenue. The idea of making sustainability profitable, would lead to businesses that are acting in their own best interest to make decisions that benefit the world. An example Professor Minh gave, was Apple removing the headphones from iPhone boxes, claiming to do so for environmental purposes as there were already enough headphones in the world and providing these would lead to more waste. However, Apple was actually able to increase profits by doing so as they no longer had to pay to put the headphones in the boxes. This is an example of corporate greed leading to positive environmental impacts, and is what Professor Minh argued should be encouraged further in order to have businesses choose to be more sustainable rather than being forced to be sustainable. The benefits of sustainability being more profitable rather than using government regulation to force businesses to follow sustainable practices is that the companies will be more likely to actually make these sustainable choices rather than finding loopholes in the system.
When touring FPT I noticed the incredible amounts of greenscape that was present within the building itself. This abundance of trees, grasses, and vegetation not only are good for the environment, when compared to plain concrete walkways, but they also improve quality of life for the workers at the company. Instead of surrounding them with lifeless bricks and concrete, FPT brought nature to the employees, allowing them to have better views, and also what I experienced when touring, a more tranquil and caring environment.
The way that FPT is dedicated to supporting their employees in advancing their careers, whether it be paying for new licensing and certifications or requiring a minimum number of hours spent on further education and training resonated very strongly with me. This way of doing business is what I hope for in my career path as I want to continue to learn even after getting a job instead of becoming complacent and out of date. I also believe in the commitment that FPT has made to the quality of life for their employees. They include things such as ping pong tables, pickleball courts, and other recreational activities on campus that workers can use to relax after work or to enjoy on their breaks. The idea that happy workers make better workers is very evident in their firm and is another business philosophy that I agree with. These various commitments to their employees seem to make working at FPT a very desirable and fulfilling job.
The highlight of this presentation was gaining a better understanding about how business is done abroad and seeing how culture plays such a major role in the business world. A key takeaway for me, was hearing that FPT had specialized teams to do business with different countries. La Hoai Vu (Phil) explained this was because of the cultural aspect of business, and how it takes time to be mastered, especially if people had to switch from country to country and culture to culture. Having exclusive teams working for certain countries enables FPT to maximize their productivity by allowing their employees to truly hone their soft skills for certain cultures. This is emphasized to me how important culture and societal norms are in the business world and really justifies this study abroad trip as a way to dive into foreign business culture and prepare myself for challenges when doing business abroad. I look forward to seeing more specific examples and implications of the business culture in Vietnam through the remainder of my time here.
